Microhydro powerplant for rural area in Bali to generate green and sustainable electricity

Microhydro is one among various renewable technologies that can be developed to generate clean and sustainable electricity in Bali. As a result, the local utility company has planned to develop several mini-hydro in Bali for the next five years with total capacity of 30 megawatt. Two micro hydro plants each of 25 kW and 20 kW capacity are currently in operation to generate electricity for villagers as well as injecting power into local grid. Many villages in Bali pose great potential to generate electricity using micro hydro from streams or rivers nearby the village which forms their irrigation systems. The report presented on this paper is result of study to develop micro hydro in the village of Sambangan in District of Buleleng. The power plant is intended to improve existing generic plant to provide more reliable and better quality electrical power for villagers which has no access to utility grid. The village has irrigation canal with historical water flow of 623 liter per second minimum and with an effective head of around 18 meter. Summary of technical specification of the proposed 82 kW micro hydro is presented. The total cost for developing this plant is estimated at around 1.5 billion Rupiah that includes civil, mechanical and electrical, as well as distribution network cost components. The cost of each work component is estimated based on empirical data on previously built or design micro hydro around Indonesia. An organization that empower local manpower is also identified to operate and maintain the power plant effectively and sustainably.